The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and relevant links.

End of Winter at Żabików, Poland

The photo sequence above showing winter finally relinquishing its icy grip was taken near Żabików, Poland during the period from March 14-20, 2010. This past winter was cold and snowy across much of the Northern Hemisphere. The stormy weather was partially the result of a pattern known as the Arctic Oscillation (AO). This feature has a positive and negative phase. When in the negative phase, as was the case this winter, the Arctic region is warm and the mid-latitudes are generally colder than normal. In the winter of 2010, the AO was strongly negative; the Arctic was anomalously warm and the mid-latitudes were anomalously cold and snowy.

At the start of this photo sequence on March 14, 2-3 in. (5-7 cm) of snow covered the ground and the maximum air temperature was just above freezing. By March 17 (fourth photo in the sequence), the temperature had climbed to 41 degrees F (5 degrees C), and by the 20th, the first day of spring, the temperature had soared to 60 degrees F (16 degrees C) and all of the snow has melted. Note that in the first two photos the branches of the conifer in the foreground are still cloaked in snow.